Felt hat body stiffening composition



Patented Dec. 24, 1946 FELT HAT BODY STIFFENING COMPOSITION Alfred E. Hodslion, Bucks County, and Harold H. Tucker, Montgomery County, Pa., assignors to John B. Stetson Company, Philadelphia, Pa, a. corporation of Pennsylvania No Drawing. ApplicationJanuary 15, 1943, Serial No. 472,490

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to the impregnation .of felt and felt hat bodies during the process of their manufacture with a stiffening material which will not Wash out or harmfully affect the dyes in the felt upon subsequent treatment of the felt in hot Water.

Heretofore shellac as a borax cut aqueous dispersion or in alcoholic solution has been used for this purpose but the cutting off of the import of this material in the present emergency has not only made it virtually impossible to obtain shellac from abroad but Government regulation has curtailed the use of shellac in hats as a stiffening material. This has made necessary the discovery of another material for this purose.

Zein in aqueous dispersions and in alcoholic solutions has been known in certain of the industrial arts for a long period of time, but only the necessity for finding a substitute stiffening material for hats lead to experiments of its use in this industry and it was surprisingly discovered that zein not only stiffened the hat as well as the former shellac solutions but that the hat body had greater resiliency, a greater tendency to snap back, when stiffened with zein than when stiffened with shellac or any other known material.

Unlike shellac, aqueous dispersions of Zein have the property of building up or increasing the apparent thickness of felt.

Zein has also been used as a sizing material for paper and for adhesives and other uses when dispersed in other mediums. None of these dispersions, however, proved satisfactory in the stiffening of hats. In the use of many of them the stiffening agent or the dyestuif would bleed out during the subsequent treatments in bat manufacturing. The resiliency of felt which had been treated with these known dispersions was poor. In some cases the stifiening material was deposited on the surface of the felt and could not be removed during subsequent operations.

Other prolamins, such as gliadin or hordein may be useful also.

The stiffening material is generally added to the hat bodies while they are dry and after being dyed, where dyeing is required, and the hat bodies are not dried after the addition of the stiffening material, they are rather carried through other operations in the process of shaping the hat in hot water and the stiffening material must not therefore be adversely affected by this subsequent treatment in hot water.

Beginning then from the invention and discovery that an alcoholic solution of Zein would successfully stiffen a hat in the course of its manufacture, it was further discovered and the present invention is based on that discovery, that a dispersion of zein in an agent made up of rosin and alcohol and caustic soda and water would remain stable under factory conditions and would successfully stiffen felt hat bodies, so long as the pH value was kept less than 9.

Although denatured ethyl alcohol has mainly been used, methyl alcohol, Carbitol, diethylene glycol monoethyl ether, and Cellosolve, ethylene glycol monoethyl ether, can also be used in substantially similar proportions, they are regarded herein and in the claims as alcohol.

Also, potassium hydroxide or ammonium hy droxide can be used as the alkali instead of sodium hydroxide. Other resins soluble in alcohol and forming soaps with alkalis may also be used. They should have high acid numbers, preferably above 100.

According to this invention the dispersion is prepared by dissolving 15 grams of white wood rosin in 85 cc. of denatured alcohol. One gram of caustic soda or equivalent alkali is then dissolved in 35 cc. of water, and these two solutions stirred together form a rosin soap. grams of Zein in solid form are then added slowly with vigorous agitation. Further water is then added for dilution, 370 cc., or more to the desired extent. It is preferable that the material be run through a colloid mill at this stage so that it will remain stable for a longer period of time. If it is desired, before the Zein is added a small amount of an additional dispersing agent, a number of these substances are commercially available on the market, may be added to prolong the stability of the emulsion, such as a sulfonated fatty alcohol, Duponel ME for example, made by Du Pont, or an alkyl aryl sulfonate such as Solvidine made by the Ciba Company, or a fatty acid ester derivative such as Deceresol OT made by the American Cyanamid and Chemical Corporation, or a fatty acid amide derivative such as Igepon T made by the General Dyestufi Corporation, but the use of such agents is not essential to the invention, they Only being desirable in factory procedure to increase stability of 'the dispersion. If it is desired it may be added in amounts varying from 1 to 10% of the weight of the rosin.

In accordance with this invention the rosin dissolved in alcohol is present in small quantities, it aids in the dispersion rather than serving as a stifiening agent. Too much rosin ruins the resiliency of the felt.

This aqueous dispersion is applied to th brim portion of the hat body either by a, series of dippings and squeezings or by automatic machines, which are in common use in the trade for this purpose.

Because of the novel characteristics of a dispersionprepared in accordance with this formulation, the zein does not precipitate on the surface of the felt, it remains stable for a sufficient period of time for factory use. The colors of the dyes in the hat bodies do not run or fade after its use and the stiffening material is not adversely affected by the subsequent treatment of the hat body in hot water. When finally dried the hat bodies are not only stiff as they were with the prior use of shellac but they are resilient, they spring back to their original shape better than was the case heretofore with the use of shellac or any other known material.

In accordance with this invention a very dilute alcoholic solution of zein can be successfully used for stifiening hats after blocking or for stiffening hats after finishing. For these purposes, a

4 2 /2% solution of zein in 85% denatured alcohol has been found successful when applied with a brush.

Other modes of applying the principle of this invention may be employed than those explained. Change may be made as regards the materials employed provided the steps taken or the ingredients stated by any of the following claims or their equivalents be employed.

What we claim as new and desire to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A felt hat body stiffening composition of a dispersion of zein, comprising rosin, alcohol, an alkali hydroxide, water and zein, the zein being substantially five times the rosin and the rosin fifteen times the alkali hydroxide by weight. 

